Crossroad To Love (Fab Five Series) (8 page)

Katy smiled back at him and thanked him for the compliment
but her knees were shaking as she turned to Lizzie.

“It will be all right, I promise. Get through the
presentation, and then concentrate on the man.” Lizzie cautioned her friend.

“But he is
so
damn hot, it’s hard to concentrate on
anything else.” Katy laughed as she heard herself say the words.
Did I
really just say he was hot
?

Ryan walked back into the room, followed by Chloe and a man
who looked much like a younger version of Ryan. Not quite as striking in
appearance, but definitely the same eyes.

“Ladies, meet my husband, Shane, who is Ryan’s brother.”
Chloe spoke first, looking up at her husband with a smile.

“I’m sorry I missed you girls last night. I was out of town
all day yesterday to a meeting with some distributors and didn’t get in until
late, but I heard quite a bit about both of you, and your two friends, from
these two.” Shane smiled as he shook hands with both of them and invited them
to sit. “Shall we get down to business? We don’t want to take up your vacation
time. If this works out, there will be plenty of time to work out the details
when your vacation is over. Lizzie, why don’t you sit over here with Chloe and
me and we’ll discuss your advertising ideas while Ryan brings Katy up to speed
on the plans and what we are looking for as far as designs. Then we’ll compare
notes,” Shane suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.” Lizzie smiled as she spread her work
on the table and began her presentation to the O’Grady couple. Going over each
slogan, she watched their faces and saw immediately that they liked her work.

They spent the next two hours going over the entire
advertising campaign together. They liked her general concept, and combining
her idea with some of their own, the three of them were able to come up with
what they all agreed was a good campaign. Lizzie was ecstatic.

“I think we will be able to work together,” Shane finally
said after they had reworked the last of the details. “You really have some
great ideas. I can’t believe you came up with that in one night after only
being in our restaurant the one time. You have a natural knack, that’s for
sure.”

Lizzie beamed after hearing Shane’s words of approval. She
could not wait to tell Rex. “Thank you, Mr. O’Grady.”

“Call me Shane. When can we draw up the paperwork?” was his
next question.

“Let me give my husband a call this evening and see what we
can work out.” 

“It will be a pleasure working with you and your husband if
he is as talented as you are. Your ads are very tastefully done,” he added as
he shook her hand.

“Oh, yes, he is very talented. He’s been in the advertising
business a long time.”

Chloe stood up and said, “The dinner crowd will be coming in
soon, we had better let Ryan take a look at the slogans and see how he and Katy
are coming along.”

Ryan had given Katy an overall idea of what the new
expansion entailed. It was to be a party room, where wedding receptions,
company parties, and other group events could be held. He also discussed the
plans for a new corporate office to be built on the lot next door. After those
two projects were completed, work would begin on the new restaurants that were
to be built in several cities around the country. He was very excited at the
prospect of opening the chain and Katy could tell he had worked hard to make
this business the success it was today. Together they pored over the sketches
she had worked so hard on the night before.

“Now keep in mind, there wasn’t time for me to order color
samples and swatches. You’ll have to imagine what I’m talking about. But these
rough sketches should give you some idea what of what I have in mind,” Katy
explained nervously.

Ryan was blown away with her work.
She is really good
.
Her ideas for the upscale establishment were exactly what he had been looking
for. He had mainly agreed to this meeting to please Chloe and to see Katy
again. When she had told him that Katy was thinking of starting a design
business, he thought it was probably just a whim and that there probably was
not much talent there. But Katy had surprised him with her good taste and she
had proven him wrong. She was, in fact, very talented. For reasons he could not
explain, he was pleased with this turn of events. Intrigued by the woman from
Chicago, he wanted to learn more about her.

They spent the last hour of their meeting talking and
getting to know each other a little better. “So why is it that you are just
now, at this stage of your life, starting a business? Why isn’t this something
you’ve done before now, if you don’t mind my asking?” Ryan ventured, hungry for
more details about this lovely lady’s life.

Katy paused before she answered.
How much should I tell
this man I’ve just met?
How much of her life was she ready to reveal to a
virtual stranger?    

“Oh, you know how it is. Life got in the way. I was raising
a son alone and didn’t really have the time to take on anything like this.”
There,
that was a good enough answer
.

“I take it you’re divorced, then?” he asked.
What man in
his right mind would let
this little lady get away?
 

Katy winced at the question. She was silent for several
seconds before she quietly answered, “No, my husband passed away several years
ago.”

“I am so sorry, Katy, I didn’t know. I’m also a widower,” he
said with a grimace. “Well, I think your business will definitely be a success
if all your work is as good as what you have shown me here today. Since you
don’t officially have an actual business yet I guess we need to find Shane and
Chloe and work out some details. Then you can get back to your friends. There
will be plenty of time for us to make arrangements for you to come back to
Dallas when we are ready to start ordering things.”

Katy’s breath suddenly caught in her throat. She had not
even thought of what would take place if they liked her work. She would be
coming back to Dallas and working with Ryan. Her heart jumped at the idea. She
would be seeing him again.

Ryan patted her hand and smiled. The gold flecks in his eyes
were jumping out at her. Katy thought she would die on the spot.
How can a
simple touch from this man make me feel as if my insides are on fire
? He
was going to be one dangerous man to be around. That was for sure. She would
really have to watch her step when she was around him.
Better not let him
see
how he gets to me.

He looked into her eyes and smiled that special smile of his
again and said, “I have the feeling that working with you is going to be one
hell of an experience, little lady.”

Katy smiled back.
I am sure you’re right
, she
thought.

This was the scene the other three walked in on. Shane and
Chloe looked at each other in disbelief. Surely Ryan was not flirting with
their new designer.

Lizzie watched her friend closely.
She seems to be very
much at ease with this man
. If Katy was nervous, it did not show outwardly.
Is she falling for his playboy ways, or
is he being genuine in his
obvious attraction to her
?
Surely he wouldn’t play with her
emotions
if they were to work together. Or would he?

“Ryan, take a look at these ads Lizzie created while we look
over Katy’s designs. We probably need to schedule another meeting to work out
the details. It’s getting late.” Shane reminded his brother. “We were very
satisfied with Liz’s work, by the way.”

Ryan came back to reality and told the couple that Katy’s
designs were right on target for what they wanted. He began talking with Lizzie
about the ads and he too was impressed with them. Shane and Chloe liked Katy’s
work as well. Chloe could not believe her good fortune in finding Lizzie and
Katy right here in her own restaurant. Her little joke about fate might not
have been too far off track.

“I’ll stop by tomorrow, after I speak with my husband, to schedule
a meeting between the three of you and the two of us,” Lizzie said as she
gathered her materials, silently wondering how Rex was going to react to this
new development.

“That sounds good. And, Katy, we need to decide how to
handle your contract, since your business isn’t up and running yet,” Ryan
added. “If you’d like, I can give you some pointers on how to get set up.”

“I will give it some thought and stop by tomorrow with
Lizzie, then, if that’s all right.”

“It’s more than all right,” Ryan said under his breath.

“What was that, bro?” asked Shane with a quizzical look at
his older brother.

“I said that will be fine.” Ryan cleared his throat and
shook hands with both Lizzie and Katy, holding Katy’s just a bit longer.
“Welcome aboard, ladies.”

And as Lizzie and Katy exited the restaurant, Ryan was
shaking his head.
I may have just
met the woman who will be the
undoing of Ryan O’Grady.

When the two friends returned to the suite, they were so
excited that it was hard for Mari and Angie to get them to stop both talking at
once. When they had finally calmed down, they shared their wonderful news with
the other two, who were visibly elated for them.

“I told you they would love your ideas,” Angie said with a
knowing look, proud of Katy and Lizzie for their determination and hard work.

“And to think I helped this little enterprise by making the
coffee to keep you two awake all night.” Marianne laughed as they all turned to
look at her. It was good to see her smiling again.

A little while later, Katy had excused herself to go into
the bedroom and call Alex to tell him her news. While she was gone, Lizzie
worriedly told the other two about the scene she had walked in on with Ryan and
Katy at the restaurant. “You don’t think she’s getting in way over her head
with this guy, do you? After all, isn’t he a confirmed bachelor?”

“Maybe they have more in common than you think, Liz. They
have both been alone a long time. It could be just the thing they both need,”
Angie replied, with a thoughtful smile. “Maybe at heart he is not the confirmed
bachelor that the gossips make him out to be. And on another note, why can’t
they just have a fling, if that’s what they both want? It doesn’t have to be a
match made in heaven for all time.”

“Let’s just wait it out and see what happens for now. After
all, she just met the guy. We may by worrying about her needlessly,” Marianne
offered.

“What did you two do while we were out?” Lizzie looked at
her friends, changing the subject.

The two of them laughed as Angie replied, “We enjoyed the
peace and quiet. You two were driving us bonkers this morning before you left.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes at her friends and said, “Let’s see
about dinner. Afterwards, I need to call Rex and break the news to him that my
ads have just gotten a client for us in Texas and he has to fly out here to do
the paperwork. I wonder how he is going to react to all this.”

“You stick to your guns, Lizzie. You worked hard for this
and you have earned his respect and undying love,” Angie advised her friend
with a grin.

Katy came out of the bedroom with news, “Alex was very happy
for me. He is very supportive of my newfound career ideas.” Her son was in her
corner, as he always had been.

“Katy, that’s great,” Lizzie said. “Now let’s order dinner.
I am starved. Working makes me hungry for junk food.”

The other three laughed. Everything made Lizzie hungry for
junk food. It was a mystery how she had stayed thin all these years. They
decided to order room service and stay in that night since they had been up
late the night before. And Lizzie still had an important phone call to make.
They called in their order, Lizzie of course ordering a burger and fries,
opened a bottle of wine, and sat down to relax. They went over the events of
the day and began to make their plans for the next day. Tomorrow was already Tuesday.
The week was going to go much too quickly. Lizzie and Katy were going back to
the restaurant in the morning and the other two would ride along. From there,
they planned to do some sightseeing. They were going to tour the old ‘South
Fork’ ranch from the TV show ‘Dallas.’

Marianne remarked, “I heard they are going to resurrect the
show and will be filming there soon, so tours will be halted when that starts.”
She also wanted to take them downtown to see some sights, such as the Sixth
Street Museum and a few other places of interest. And of course, there would be
more shopping and lunch.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Angie said as she opened the
door to let the waiter in with their dinner. “Lizzie, dear, your junk food has
arrived.” She signed for the check, adding a generous tip for the waiter, and
proceeded to dole out the food. Lizzie was the only one who had ordered a
burger. The rest of the group opted for salads.

“You guys don’t know what you’re missing,” Lizzie teased as
she dipped a French fry into her ketchup and took a bite. “Yum, yum, this is so
good.”

“I’ll pass, thank you very much. My grilled chicken salad is
fine for me.” Mari laughed as she speared a piece of chicken with her fork.

“I’ll take my Cobb salad any day over that greasy junk,”
Angie agreed.

“And I am content to stick to my Caesar salad,” Katy chimed
in.

“Now back to the plans for tomorrow. We’ll get to see the
sexy Ryan again and meet his brother,” Marianne gushed as they were settling
down to eat. “You didn’t say what Chloe’s husband was like.”

“He is a younger version of Ryan, but not quite as striking.
Chloe did well,” Lizzie answered the question. “He was very nice and he knows
his business.”

Katy’s cheeks turned a slight pink at the mention of Ryan’s
name. Why did this man have such an effect on her? She knew it would not lead
anywhere. He was a confirmed bachelor since the death of his wife.
Had he
loved her that much that he could
never share his life with another
woman
? But a little harmless flirtation wouldn’t hurt anything, would it?
As long as Katy kept her wits about her and did not get too attached, she would
be fine. Once she got to know Chloe better, maybe she could ask her about
Ryan’s wife. Besides, flirting with Ryan would be good practice for her to get
back into the dating game. Katy wondered what it would be like to be in Ryan’s
arms… to feel his lips on hers. She unconsciously shivered.